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December 18, 2012

Massachusetts Slaps Morgan Stanley With $5M Fine Over Facebook IPO

Massachusetts regulators said the firm's investment bankers had 'inappropriate influence' on its research analysts

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The New and Improved Form ADV
Whether an RIA is describing its investment strategy in advertisements or in the new Form ADV Part 2, it is important the firm articulates material risks faced by advisory clients and avoids language that might be construed as a guarantee.

Client Commission Practices and Soft Dollars
RIAs should always evaluate whether the products and services they receive from broker-dealers are appropriate. The SEC suggested that an RIAs failure to stay within the scope of the Section 28(e) safe harbor may violate the advisors fiduciary duty to clients, so RIAs must evaluate their soft dollar relationships on a regular basis to ensure they are disclosed properly and that they do not negatively impact the best execution of clients transactions.

Morgan Stanley (MS) has agreed to pay a $5 million fine over issues related to its conduct as the lead underwriter of Facebook’s (FB) IPO on May 18, Massachusetts regulators said Tuesday. The company, which is led by James Gorman (left) neither admitted to nor denied the charges.

The broker-dealer, according to a document released by the state, failed to follow certain rules laid out in 2003 by a variety of regulatory groups, when Morgan Stanley was asked to pay $125 million concerning violations from July 1999 through June 2001.

Specifically, Morgan Stanley research analysts “were subject to inappropriate influence by investment banking at the firm,” according to the document released Tuesday by regulators, who pointed to a continuation of this conduct as a reason for taking action against the broker-dealer.

In the case of the Facebook IPO, an initial S-1 registration document was filed with the SEC on Feb. 1, and an amended S-1 was filed on May 3. The social-networking website began its investor roadshow on May 7, and soon Facebook--which communicated with Morgan Stanley's investment-banking staff--began to lower its 2012 revenue estimates by about 3-3.5%.

It filed an amended S-1 late on May 9, and then some research analysts with a variety of broker-dealers lowered their estimates of the website’s 2012 revenue. However, this was after many of the investor roadshows had taken place.

Furthermore, “The script drafted by [a] senior investment banker [to be shared with equity analysts] included quantitative information regarding Facebook’s projections for 2Q12 that was not contained in the S-1,” according to Massachusetts regulators.

“We are pleased to have reached a settlement with Secretary Galvin and the Massachusetts Securities Division and to have put this matter behind us,” Morgan Stanley said in a statement. “Morgan Stanley is committed to robust compliance with both the letter and the spirit of all applicable regulations and laws.”